A Look Back at the Season that was for Woodruff High Winter Sports Teams
By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer
Winter sports have come to a close for Woodruff High School, and this past season saw many terrific highlights, dynamic youth movements, shattered records, and state champions as three young teams grew by leaps and bounds. Here is a look back at some of the highlights from an exciting 2021-22 winter sports campaign for the Wolverines.
Trial by Fire
It is safe to say that the Lady Wolverines’ varsity basketball team exceeded their expectations during the 2021-22 season. Picked to finish fifth out of six teams by region coaches following the graduation of four starters from a season ago, Woodruff not only qualified for the playoffs but finished second in the conference behind only Emerald and hosted a home playoff game. What is even more impressive is that by season’s end, three of the top contributors for the Lady Wolverines were two eighth-graders in Jensyn Turner and Rihanna Wallace and leading scorer Sadie Burnette who is only a freshman. Woodruff also saw key contributions from junior Kylie Hitchcock and sophomore Tyanna Herbert, so the future is very bright indeed for Woodruff’s girls’ basketball program for many years to come.
Dialing Long Distance
It was also a record-shattering season for the girls’ basketball team. The Lady Wolverines connected on 137 three-pointers as a team in 25 games, which obliterated the old record of 71 sets just one year ago. Freshman sensation Sadie Burnette set a new school record, making 65 three-point shots, nearly doubling the old mark of 38 set by the great Jennifer Jones in 2007-08. Senior Natalie Montjoy knocked down 26 long-range shots, and eighth-grader Jensyn Turner hit 22 from distance, both of which easily cracked the top-10 for made three-pointers in a season by a Lady Wolverine. What is even more impressive is that the season-long three-point barrage was not only a record for the girls’ program but would also stand as a single-season record for the boys’ program. Burnette’s record of 65 made three-pointers, too, is the single-season benchmark for an individual in either of the varsity basketball programs.
Rebounding into Form
It was not just the lady’s team that saw record-challenging performances from young players. The Woodruff boys’ team is also experiencing a drastic youth movement and saw vital contributions from four sophomores and a freshman this past season. One of those tenth graders, Happy Lea, had a season to remember. Lea pulled down 236 rebounds, the eighth-most in a single season in school history for the Wolverine boys. Lea was also the team’s leading scorer, averaging 12 points per game to go along with an average of nine rebounds. Another sophomore, sharpshooter Nick McConnell, also chased history of his own. McConnell, son of Woodruff head coach Bryan McConnell, hit 57 three-pointers which are the second-most in a single season by a boys’ player in school history. With two more seasons to play, McConnell has plenty of time to chase down the record of 64 set by Austin Mays in 2013-14.
Learning how to Finish
Sometimes learning is best done the hard way. Such was the case for the Wolverine boys’ basketball team in 2021-22. With only one senior on the roster by season’s end and four sophomores and a freshman carrying most of the load, the young Wolverines had their baptism by fire. Woodruff found itself locked in many extremely close games well into the fourth quarter during the season, with some of those victories slipping through their grasp. But region wins over usual contenders Chapman and Broome, and two dominating victories over Chesnee and Brashier Middle College showed the promise of what’s to come for a program that is quickly on the rise.
Wrestle Like a Girl
June Welch is a force. The sophomore Wolverine wrestler regularly dispatches her male counterparts and has become one of the team’s leaders. Welch placed highly in the region and upper-state tournaments and competed in the recently established girls’ division in South Carolina. She won her second consecutive individual state championship in her weight class. Welch is one of the bright young faces of a program looking to regain its once regular seat at the table of perennial contenders. With Woodruff wrestling on the rise again, more South Carolina teams will continue finding out just how good Welch is.
Fully Qualified
Woodruff wrestling saw four of its members qualify for the individual state tournament. Welch finished as upper-state runner up in the 106-pound weight class, Brad Scharmer placed second in the 220-pound class, and Cam Young finished fourth out of a solid field at 285. Genaro De La Garza, the Wolverines’ junior sensation, finished runner up in the 113-pound class, and his loss in the upper-state final was his first of the entire season. Before that narrow defeat, De La Garza had a remarkable individual record of 57-0 and is ranked second in his weight class across the 3A classification.
Author: Tracy Sanders
